Community-Based Learning
As North Carolina’s urban research university, UNC Charlotte is committed to addressing the cultural, economic, educational, environmental, health, and social needs of the greater Charlotte region. We value community partnerships and want to ensure the health and safety of our students, colleagues, and community partners during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Experiential and community-based learning are integral to a UNC Charlotte education. These activities expand learning beyond the classroom and into community and professional work environments, and involve many forms of activities:
- Internships and practica
- Fellowships
- Community-based research
- Service-learning
- Project-based learning
- Field experiences
- Clinical rotations
- Student teaching
At the request of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, a working group was established to develop a coordinated campus plan to provide support for experiential education environments during the COVID-19 outbreak in our geographic region. This action team provides guidance for academic programs to re-establish their learning activities in a way that considers the health and well-being of all constituents, relative risks associated in the environment, and the identification of resources to assist in the management of these experiential learning activities. While this site is designed to provide guidance and support to experiences connected to academic credit or embedded in an academic program, the information below could also be used for members of the UNC Charlotte community seeking advice for returning to community-based work.
Decisions about whether curricular and co-curricular experiences occur remotely or in person is up to the faculty member or program director in conversation with the partnering organization. In order to keep our community safe, UNC Charlotte strongly encourages implementing remote or virtual community-based learning activities wherever possible. Where those learning outcomes cannot be addressed remotely, we encourage all students, faculty and staff, and community partners to adhere to current UNC Charlotte COVID-19 best practices.